What the heck is “ProAm Line Dance?”

Hi everybody!  Big D Bash is coming up fast.  There are only 32 days before the event.  Big D Bash is unique on the UCWDC circuit in that it is a “Line Dance only” event.  No couples.  No ProAm… we’ll almost no ProAm.

There is a little known category of dance competition called “ProAm Line Dance.”  Here is how it works:

1. You find an instructor (like me).
2. You find some friends (optional, but it makes it a lot more fun)
3. You and the instructor (and friends?) pick out a line dance and the instructor teaches it to you and/or coaches you.  Any line dance at all!  Did you catch that?  You get to dance any line dance you want to dance!!!!
4. You enter the contest.  Here’s the “Pro/Am” part:
   The instructor dances on the floor in the competition with you!   You’re not out there all alone!
   So if you get stuck or your mind goes blank, then you have someone to look at other than the other competitors.
5. You have a great time, you win cool prizes, accolades, applause, you’re invited to be on Oprah and the Tonight show!   You become famous and retire and spend your weekends in the French Rivera. (that last bit is still being verified, but it’s what I heard! *wink*)

Basically it is a way for people who are “thinking” of doing line dance to get over that scary leap into the unknown:  “Eeeeeeeek, you mean I won’t have a Pro to hang onto?  Eeeeeeeeeek!”

We’ll you won’t actually be able to hang onto me, but I’ll be there on the floor with you so I’m your “emergency fallback plan.”  *grin*

So, if you’d like to try out line dance competition in a fun, easy, inexpensive way, then give me a shout!

Everybody should line dance — Especially ProAm “Couples” Students !

Line dancing is fun! But, if you need more reasons, let me share. *grin*

Here are some reasons why you should add line dancing competition in addition to your ProAm or Couples competition.

• If you’re competing in PA or Couples then you’re already at the event: you’ve already paid for the Weekend Pass, you’ve already paid for the travel, you’ve already paid for the hotel, and the costumes and the coaching. Why not dance as much as you can!? Get more for your money! More bang for your buck! Dance More! Woot!
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• Right now, in the US and Canada, the field is wide open because there so few of us line dancers around! I’d like to see that change of course! But for now, if you enter, your odds of winning are awesome! *hint* *hint* Can we say cool prizes and 1st place finishes! Shhhhhh! Don’t tell anyone! *wink*
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• Line Dancing is all about you! It is your chance to SHINE and to stand out. When you’re on the floor with your pro or your partner and a teeming horde of other competitors, then you are competing not only for placements but for the attention of the judges and the audience.When you line dance (at least right now) then all attention is on you. You stand out. You shine. You sparkle. You have your 15 minutes (ok, 2 minutes) fame! All kidding aside. Think about it. The judges have nothing to watch but you and suddenly your hard won dance technique that was lost in the crowd becomes wonderfully and beautifully visible when those same judges are watching you and only you! Then when they see you doing couples later or ProAm later, they remember. Trust me on this. My line dance experience got me through my whole 1st year in couples and proam and I lost track of the number of times I had a judge say “You’re doing couples and proam and line dance too!”
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• Every time you enter line dance, those points from line dancing count toward your Overall Points Championships in the Top Male and Top Female Categories. Points are calculated by awarding five (5) points for each division/dance completed and then adding additional points for each 1st – 5th dance placement attained in each of those division/dances, e.g., First – 5 points, Second – 4, Third – 3, Fourth – 2, Fifth – 1.
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• You can line dance all by yourself! You don’t have to pay a pro for practice time! You don’t have to co-ordinate schedules to get another person to the studio.
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• You can line dance almost anywhere. Have a big dining room? A spare bedroom? I’ve even danced in the hallway and in my kitchen, on occasion, when I couldn’t get to the studio. (Pssst. There are no floor fees in your kitchen or dining room.)..
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• When you line dance you’re dancing by yourself! There isn’t a pro or a partner to hang onto. Which is a GOOD THING! Because dancing by yourself will help you improve your …
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  … balance
  … momentum
  … body flight
  … spin technique
  … timing
  … rhythm
  … memorization of choreography
  … musicality
  … special note to the guys. Uhmm…not that I don’t love dancing with my lovely and talented dance partner and pro but having another person out there to worry about adds a HUGE level complexity to the dancing. Dancing on my own is MUCH simpler and doing so allows me to focus on, well, uhmm, ME! (Pssst.. nobody tell my dance partner or my pro I said that… ok? It will be our secret!)
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• If you’re like me, then the part of “dancing” you hate most is the drills. UGH! There is nothing worse than being in the studio doing the same motion over and over and over and over and… well, you get the idea. But Shhhhh…. here’s a secret. Line dancing uses repetitive patterns. In other words, every 32 beats or 48, or 24 beats the pattern repeats! You get another shot at working on a specific step to improve the motion or balance or timing or…the list is endless. And SHOCKER! You are actually DANCING while you’re drilling to music!. OMG! What a concept. *wink*

So, line dancing is fun, the field is wide open, the skills will help improve your couples and proam dancing. What are you waiting for! It’s time to add line dancing to your line up!

Folks if there was ever a win-win-win situation, this it, so…

Give me a shout!

See ya on the dance floor!